NEWSWORTHY
New Boeing state jet featuring Hinomaru-themed livery arrives in Hokkaido
A new government airplane to be used for overseas visits by Imperial family members and the prime minister arrived in Hokkaido from Switzerland on Friday morning, ahead of its entry into service next fiscal year. The Boeing 777-300ER, one of two planes to be newly ...
Hokkaido celebrates 150th anniversary of its naming with a plug for ethnic diversity
Hokkaido formally celebrated the 150th anniversary of its name Sunday in Sapporo, with the Emperor and Empress in attendance and Ainu representatives performing traditional dances. The island prefecture was officially named Hokkaido on Aug. 15, 1869, and formally put under the control of the government. ...
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko are on a three-day tour of Hokkaido in what will probably be their last visit to the island before the Emperor abdicates in April. After arriving at New Chitose Airport on Friday, the couple went to the city of Kitahiroshima, ...
Japan and Russia agreed Tuesday to join forces to realize the denuclearization of North Korea and step up security cooperation, as the two sides remained at odds over Tokyo's planned introduction of new missile defense systems. Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera ...
Japan's indigenous Ainu sue to bring their ancestors' bones back home
Activist group's hardball tactics expose rifts in the Ainu community over the fate of bones held at universities.
Japanese national team selects training camp sites for World Cup
Hokkaido's Abashiri and Miyazaki have been selected as training camp sites for the Japan national team for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, the Japan Rugby Football Union announced on Wednesday. Both are familiar cities to the Japanese rugby community and fans as they have long ...
Japanese former residents of Russian-controlled isles return to visit ancestors' graves
Japanese former residents of Russian-controlled islands off Hokkaido visit Kunashiri and Etorofu to pray at their ancestors’ graves.
Japanese government eyes Jomon Period sites for World Heritage designation
A government panel Thursday selected archaeological sites in northern Japan from the Jomon Period as potential UNESCO World Cultural Heritage candidates in 2020. The ancient sites in Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate and Akita prefectures, representing a culture that occupied the archipelago for nearly 10,000 years, will ...
Hokkaido islanders pray for victims on 25th anniversary of deadly earthquake and tsunami
Local people on a small island off the coast of Hokkaido paid tribute Thursday to more than 200 victims of a deadly earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck a quarter of a century ago. On Okushiri Island, where 198 people were killed or went missing, ...
Search begins for commemorative trees from '64 Olympics ahead of 2020 Tokyo Games
In 1964, athletes taking part in the Tokyo Olympics brought with them seeds from their homeland to be planted as commemorative trees. More than 50 years later, Japan is now searching for the whereabouts of these arboreal legacies as it prepares to host the Tokyo ...
130 rescued after heavy rain leaves them stranded at Hokkaido hot spring
Some 130 people who had been stranded at a hot spring resort in Hokkaido were rescued Wednesday after torrential rains triggered landslides in the area the previous day. The people who were staying at Tenninkyo hot spring in the town of Higashikawa walked across what ...
Demise of Japan's World Cup oracle octopus catches British media attention
The butchering and selling of an octopus that correctly predicted all of Japan's FIFA World Cup group stage match results has drawn media attention in Britain. The "psychic" octopus, caught in Hokkaido, "has been killed and turned into sashimi," public broadcaster the BBC reported on ...
